Good morning. New member here, but not too much of a newbie.

My game is the Grassroots Motorsports $20XX Challenge. I've been doing it since 2004. If any of you frequent the GRM forum, I am known as SVreX over there.

I've been playing with a lot of cars over the years- Subaru SVX, WRX, Honda CRX, 323GTX, MX5, RX7 and my latest, of course, is an RX8.

In considering these cars, I realized they all had one thing in common- "X"! Hence, the name.

Last year I made the podium at the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge in this:




It's a turbo Miata with a custom fiberglass fastback that I built. It autocrossed like on rails, and ran a 13 second 1/4 mile. Lots of fun!

I've had fun with Miatas, but the car I really like is the RX8. So when the opportunity came up to buy a running RX8 for $900, I couldn't resist:




It's gonna need some effort!

My gameplan is to get it running well enough to take to the $2016 Challenge (perhaps with nitrous), then begin an LS swap for the $2017 Challenge. I am looking for a 500# weight reduction, autocross FTD, 13 second 1/4 mile, and keeping it fully streetable for less than $2000.

I look forward to hearing from you guys for all your cheap speed ideas, and don't mind being your guinea pig at all!

 

welcome
And cool

 

Thanks, wcs! I look forward to getting to know a few of you.

There has never been an RX8 at the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge, so this will be a first. Looks like there should be enough knowledge around here to make a respectable effort.

I've had a top autocross finish for the last 3 years (in 2 different cars), so I kind of know the routine. But the RX8 is new to me, so I will be looking for help from people smarter than me.

 

Welcome and you've come to the right place for help! I don't know what I would do without this site haha

 

Thanks- nice car!

One of the interesting things about the $20XX Challenge is that there are basically no rules or classes.

It's head-to-head no holes barred run-what-you-brung raw times racing. No pax, no limits. "Cheating" is therefore encouraged. If it makes it go faster, fine.

The $2000 budget is pretty much the only rule.

One recent car had a vacuum downforce system (which is pretty much forbidden in all forms of racing).

I am thinking of playing with active aero, but probably can't get it done this year before the event in Sept.

 

Thanks!

That sounds awesome and a lot of fun! The RX8 will be a great car to take on the track! With the high rev limit you'll be flying ;D

 

Welcome to the club! Uncommon color. Is that custom?

 

Yeah, it's been repainted. I didn't choose the color.

 

is it paint or just a vinyl wrap?

 

An LS swap for under $2017?

 

It's paint.

 

Yes. I will complete an LS swapped RX8 for under $2017.

I already own most of the pieces, and yes, the math works. It is completely legit.

Would you like me to share more, or do you get a bigger kick out of just criticizing the efforts of others?

As noted, I've got a LOT of experience at this. Several of the cars I've built have turned out to be group efforts of various forums I've been on. There is lots of opportunity to share ideas and knowledge, and I am very appreciative of people who help me along the way. I know how to build a budget race car- I don't know a lot about RX8's. I am hoping this car can be a project that several people on this forum can enjoy influencing, contributing, and helping me. There's a lot we can learn together.

 

It wasn't criticism but if you want to get butt-hurt over it then, well, there's not much I can do. I treat all claims that fall outside the norm with a healthy dose of skepticism. You're unknown here. You're unfamiliar with the car. Most piston swap projects follow the Top Gear mantra ("Ambitious but rubbish.").

Well, you opened the door but instead of criticizing, how about some psych profiling?

I wonder: if you are that confident about it then why the defensive posturing? Why not simply let your deeds speak for you? Who cares what anonymous critics on the Internet think of your plans?

Anyway, I'm actually very interested in your project(s) and hope you succeed (feisty, fighty nature notwithstanding). Your goals are ambitious and that's a good start.

 

I don't feel defensive, but understand how it looks that way. Certainly not butt hurt.

Anyone who has done the Challenge has heard hundreds of naysayers claiming it can't be done, and accusing everyone who does it of being a liar. Your comment, along with the laughing icon, was right in line with what I have heard many many times. So, if it sounded defensive, perhaps. Just a touch. I care very little about anonymous critics, but work very hard to get other people interested and involved in the projects I do. If that doesn't interest you, that's OK.

Yes, I am unknown here. I get it. Gotta start somewhere, right? That's why my first post showed a tiny bit of my track record with this event, and shared my user name on GRM. I am pretty well known there.

Don't know the car- that's correct. If I knew the car, I wouldn't need to be on this forum.

But, it's just a car. Suck, squish, bang, blow- that's what they all do. Suspension concepts and math don't change from car to car. The RX8 may have it's quirks and challenges, but I've raced so many weird cars that I am not scared of much of anything. Anyone who actually has track time in things like a Subaru SVX, a Yugo, a Corvair and a 323 GTX has got to be a special kind of odd.

Feisty, fighty nature? Well, guilty as charged.

 

Well cool color! And I genuinely hope you get to do the swap man would be pretty cool to smoke way faster cars haha.

https://www.rx8club.com/non-rotary-s...ped-r3-244244/

That's probably the most famous swap on this club. I remember seeing it for sale last year. Can't remember the exact price but I think it was around 50k. It's a lotta work. Probably why people think it's expensive to do the swap. Don't take it seriously. We are a happy family over here at rx8club

 

As far as the LS swap goes, I beleive him. I'm sure he can slap the engine in and get it at least running, he doesn't need it to be perfectly functional, and I'm sure he can deal with christmas tree dash. One thing you will need to be aware of, with putting the LS in you are destroying the balance of the car.

 

Good word.. the balance is important, and I will certainly be careful about it. (I have a full set of race scales, and weigh everything I do, because weight savings and balance are very important to me).

 

im looking forward to seeing what corners you cut to do this swap, but i have a feeling everything will be manufactured by you.

im actually planning on doing either a turbo sbc/5 speed swap or a 4.3l v6/5 speed swap in my 8. mainly because i can, and dont care to much what the enthusiast say. haha

 

When I get to doing the LS swap, I will be using the 4.8L LS with aluminum heads. It's the smallest of the LS engines, but it has an oversquare design, and will rev to the moon. It is an iron block, but is comparable to the Renesis in overall dressed weight. I won't be turboing it. Free-flowing heads and a Hot Cam should get me about 375 hp.

I want to design it to work with a T-56, because I want a manual. However, I doubt I will find a T-56 in my budget. The engine I have came with a TH400, so I will probably build it with an auto for the $2017 Challenge, then pull the slushbox and add a T-56.

I will gain weight overall, particularly in the transmission and headers, but hopefully I can keep it under control. Weight distribution will be a big focus of the build.

But, that's a long time from now!

 

Check the link I posted. They say the 50:50 weight distribution is still the same. The LS engine they dropped in was only 100lbs more. So they say...

 

Yeah, I saw that.

Doesn't sound like they were too scientific about it, but I am hoping that's the case.

 

Welcome.
Good luck with your project. You seem to have a better grasp of the swap better than most here who want to do one but are pretty clueless.

I'm no expert, but I think the size and shape of the Renesis allows the placement of it to be lower and further back than piston engines, giving it a different center of gravity.
It seems to me even a 100 lb. weight increase would be a substantial difference in the weight ratio if the engine's placement were forced to be higher and further forward.
I expect some modifications to the engine bay would be needed, but I admit I really don't know.
It just seems logical to me.
Good luck, and I am looking forward to following your progress.

Just don't take 3 years, or I'll lose interest.

 

Thanks. I will do my best, but I am not a fast builder. I am a family man.

Somehow we jumped way ahead and started talking about an LS. I haven't even gotten the car running!

The first project will be getting it running with the rotary, making it turn, and bringing it to the Challenge. I will start a build thread for that first stage soon.

After that, I'll begin the LS, as a completely separate build thread.

So, maybe I wi be able to hold your attention twice. Maybe. Lol !

 

Ok, my mistake.
I thought you were going forward with the swap.

The new owner stickies contain just about everything you'd need to know about the Renesis and the 8.
I knew about RX7s and rotaries when I bought mine, but quickly found out the Renny is a different animal.

I bought mine because it was love at first sight, and the test drive was awesome.
I almost regretted getting it when I started really researching it.

Thankfully I found this forum, and many helpful members assisted me and I learned how to care for it properly.
4 years, and nearly 40k miles later, I love it more than ever, especially the uniqueness of the RX8 and the Renesis.


'04 LY GT. 56K miles.

 

I also found love at first sight with the RX8. Just really didn't think I could ever afford one.

I've been playing with Miatas for a couple of years, and reached the point where I was ready to build a V8 sports car. The intention was to build a V8 Miata, but then a deal on an incomplete LS swap RX7 came along.

The day after I bought the RX7, a cheap RX8 came up for sale locally. I had no choice- I had to jump ship!

I may still use the RX7 as the test mule chassis to put together my drivetrain- it's a much easier fit. But long term, I really want the RX-V8.

So, here I am. I have most of the pieces, and a few steps laid out in front of me. But I'm gonna learn the car (and the RX8 community) before I start. I have no interest in building a hack job.